The Church has realized that it is necessary to be primarily a community, not an institution. It is such Church that young people need,- the Head of the UGCC

On Friday, December 7, 2018, at the Lviv Sheptytsky Center, took place a meeting of the UGCC youth pastors with the Patriarch of the UGCC His Beatitude Svyatoslav and the RCC Archbishop and Metropolitan of Lviv, Mechyslaw Mokshitsky, who spoke about the Synod of Youth in Rome.

Among the guests were those responsible for the pastoral care of young people in dioceses, as well as representatives of Christian youth organizations and movements, as well as all interested visitors. The organizers of the event are the Patriarchal Commission on Youth Affairs of the UGCC and the Commission for the Pastoral Care of the Youth of the RCC in Ukraine.

In his speech to the audience, the Head and Father of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav highlighted three main questions: "What is the Ecumenical Catholic Church in her concern for the youth? What is the youth now, especially in the global world? And what has shaped the image of the youth pastor whom young people want and the Church needs?"

"The Universal Church understands that young people are an inseparable component and a large part of the Church's body. Sometimes we say that young people are the future of the Church. It is not true. Youth is the present life of the Church. And when the church community is not able to speak the youth language today, tomorrow it will not be able to speak to most of its faithful in general. So the issue of youth pastoral care or guardianship of the Church over the youth is a matter of our present, and hence the key to the future. The Church realized that it was necessary to be primarily a community, not an institution. It is this Church that young people need," said the Head of the UGCC.

According to him, the Church is a community that listens.

In addition, he noted that the youths are now very diverse, dynamic, moving and at the same time vulnerable. After all, they are now experiencing a lot of challenges, including emigration, which occurs for various reasons.

"Often in such a movement, young people feel that they are unnecessary to anyone. Youth is an extremely mobile part of society. In rich countries, it feels marginalized and discarded. These societies are afraid of the youth, because it brings an element of instability. Therefore, the so-called "culture of rejection" is developing," said the Head of the Greek Catholics.

In his opinion, young people are the most active part of the Church. Young people want to take on more and more participation in the life of the Church. That is why the Holy Father supported the idea of a synodality, that is, involving young people in making important decisions in the Church.

In addition, youths are extremely religious. Perhaps even the most religious part of society, but the way of their religiosity is different. They wants to have mature mentors (pastors) and to see their own family in the Church.

The Head of the UGCC said that now it's difficult for young people to make vital decisions, for example, which profession to choose, how and when to create a family, etc. In such moments, young people may experience fear.

"Young people need someone who gets close and helps not to make mistakes, that is,helps to be free. Indeed, true freedom is not only an option to choose or not to choose. The experience of freedom is when you make the right choice that realizes your vocation and makes you happy," said the Head of the UGCC.

In his speech, he also raised questions about the concept of power. "Now we have a too secularized notion of power. Power - this is something that we have over someone like a coercive tool. Like, you have to listen to me. Why? Because I have power. If anyone in the Church thinks about the power in this way, he sins with clericalism. After all, nobody gave us power over anyone. You are given the great task of serving someone (for the sake of something). In Latin "power" - means something that allows you to grow. True spiritual power is nothing more than a ministry for the growth of another," emphasized the Head of the Church.

In the end, he noted that there is one vocation - to reach holiness, but there are different ways to achieve this. So it's important to be able to properly accompany the youth.

"What church do we have? How can we serve the youth? How do you, youth pastors, respond to those needs? "- finally called for reflection His Beatitude Sviatoslav.